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Refractive Surgery Atlas: Surgical techniques and complications
by Samir A. Melki Jason Brenner Wassef ChanbourThis book will serve first as a review of latest technology and refractive surgical procedures. The book follows a case-based approach with respective management and learning points. It serves as a visual reference encompassing not only common but also rare complications of refractive surgery. Each chapter discusses a different pathologic entity, including a summary of the most recent updates (pathophysiology, presentations, risk factors, preventions, and management) followed by pictures showing these pathologies. Pictures are combined into cases that include patient history, clinical description of the pictures, management and leaning points. The end of each chapter includes take home messages that summarizes the leaning aspects of the aforementioned cases. Refractive Surgery Atlas is a must-have resource for all cornea and refractive surgery specialists as well as medical students, ophthalmology residents, and fellows in cornea and refractive surgery.
Where the Hood At?: Fifty Years of Change in Black Neighborhoods
by Michael C. LensSubstantial gaps exist between Black Americans and other racial and ethnic groups in the U.S., most glaringly Whites, across virtually all quality-of-life indicators. Despite strong evidence that neighborhood residence affects life outcomes, we lack a comprehensive picture of Black neighborhood conditions and how they have changed over time. In Where the Hood At? urban planning and public policy scholar Michael C. Lens examines the characteristics and trajectories of Black neighborhoods across the U.S. over the fifty years since the Fair Housing Act. Hip hop music was born out of Black neighborhoods in the 1970s and has evolved alongside them. In Where the Hood At? Lens uses rap’s growth and influence across the country to frame discussions about the development and conditions of Black neighborhoods. Lens finds that social and economic improvement in Black neighborhoods since the 1970s has been slow. However, how well Black neighborhoods are doing varies substantially by region. Overall, Black neighborhoods in the South are doing well and growing quickly. Washington D.C. and Atlanta, in particular, stand out as centers of Black affluence. Black neighborhoods in the Midwest and the Rust Belt, on the other hand, are particularly disadvantaged. The welfare of Black neighborhoods is related not only to factors within neighborhoods, such as the unemployment rate, but also to characteristics of the larger metropolitan area, such as overall income inequality. Lens finds that while gentrification is increasingly prevalent, it is growing slowly, and is not as pressing an issue as public discourse would make it seem. Instead, concentrated disadvantage is by far the most common and pressing problem in Black neighborhoods. Lens argues that Black neighborhoods represent urban America’s greatest policy failures, and that recent housing policies have only had mild success. He provides several suggestions for policies with the goal of uplifting Black neighborhoods. One radical proposal is enacting policies and programs, such as tax breaks for entrepreneurs or other small business owners, that would encourage Black Americans to move back to the South. Black Americans migrating South would have a better chance at moving to an advantaged Black neighborhood as improving neighborhood location is higher when moving across regions. It would also help Black Americans expand their political and economic power. He also suggests a regional focus for economic development policies, particularly in the Midwest where Black neighborhoods are struggling the most. One way to boost economic development would be to move federal agencies to the area. He also calls for building more affordable housing in Black suburbs. Black poverty is lower in suburbs than in central cities, so increasing housing in Black suburbs would allow Black households to relocate to more advantaged neighborhoods, which research has shown leads to improved life outcomes. Where the Hood At? is a remarkable and comprehensive account of Black neighborhoods that helps us to better understand the places and conditions that allow them flourish or impedes their advancement.
The Child Gaze: Narrating Resistance in American Literature (Children's Literature Association Series)
by Amanda M. GreenwellThe Child Gaze: Narrating Resistance in American Literature theorizes the child gaze as a narrative strategy for social critique in twentieth- and twenty-first-century US literature for children and adults. Through a range of texts, including James Baldwin’s Little Man, Little Man, Mildred D. Taylor’s Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese, and more, Amanda M. Greenwell focuses on children and their literal acts of looking. Detailing how these acts of looking direct the reader, she posits that the sightlines of children serve as signals to renegotiate hegemonic ideologies of race, ethnicity, creed, class, and gender. In her analysis, Greenwell shows how acts of looking constitute a flexible and effective narrative strategy, capable of operating across multiple points of view, focalizations, audiences, and forms. Weaving together scholarship on the US child, visual culture studies, narrative theory, and other critical traditions, The Child Gaze explores the ways in which child acts of looking compel readers to look at and with a child character, whose gaze encourages critiques of privileged visions of national identity. Chapters investigate how child acts of looking allow texts to redraw circles of inclusion around the locus of the child gaze and mobilize childhood as a site of resistance. The powerful child gaze can thus disrupt dominant scripts of power, widening the lens through which belonging in the US can be understood.
Contested Kingdom: Fan Attachment and Corporate Control at Disneyland
by William McCarthyIn Contested Kingdom: Fan Attachment and Corporate Control at Disneyland, William McCarthy presents a groundbreaking study centered on the history of Disneyland and Disney theme park enthusiasts. Focusing on two unexplored yet interconnected phenomena—the dynamic relationship between the Disney corporation and Southern Californian fans in both online and physical park settings over a span of more than three decades—this volume sheds new light on the meaning and purpose of Disneyland. Through a comprehensive analysis of the interwoven dimensions of individuals, place, and cognitive, affective, and behavioral processes, McCarthy explores the fervent sense of place attachment experienced by the approximately one million annual passholders who visit the park. McCarthy’s analysis extends beyond the physical world of Disneyland by delving into the evolution of Disney fandom, discourse, commerce, and social formations in online social platforms like Usenet, web discussion boards, and social media. By employing a mixed-methods approach incorporating interviews, participant observation, surveys, and data analysis, this study establishes a novel analytical framework for comprehending the interrelationships between the Disney corporation, its fan communities, and online social platforms. As the first in-depth longitudinal analysis of the ongoing struggle on successive social platforms between fan users and a corporate entity, Contested Kingdom provides valuable insights for scholars and future investigations.
Grotesque Progeny: The Commodification of Dangerous and Endangered Children (Cultures of Childhood)
by Mark HeimermannIn contemporary Western society, childhood appears more protected than ever to the casual onlooker. Yet, we are increasingly fascinated by narratives in which children are depicted as unsettling beings, both dangerous and endangered, sometimes chaotic or even evil. In Grotesque Progeny: The Commodification of Dangerous and Endangered Children, author Mark Heimermann argues that these representations reflect cultural anxiety regarding a shifting conception of youths from emotional assets to economic ones. In the early to mid-twentieth century, children, who had previously been viewed in part as economic investments, were largely moved out of the work force. For decades, children were instead valued primarily as emotional assets. However, the rise of neoliberal capitalism in the 1970s and 1980s, and its eventual proliferation throughout our politics and our lives, has led to the widespread commodification of social arenas previously kept separate from the capitalist quest for profit. Not even children have escaped being objectified and dehumanized in this manner. Heimermann examines a variety of texts that center on children and adolescents who are marked as different from the adult characters and consequently viewed as grotesque. Chapters cover Jeff Lemire’s Sweet Tooth, M. R. Carey’s The Girl with All the Gifts, Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love, Richard Starkings’s Elephantmen, Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, and more. Because the young characters are not viewed as equal members of society, they must either strike back at those who commodify them or risk facing a lifetime of dehumanization. Grotesque Progeny argues that these monstrous depictions reveal societal unease over shortsighted economic and political thinking, the exploitation of children, and the changing nature of childhood. The book addresses a growing concern over which spaces ought to be excluded or removed from the harsh valuations of neoliberalism.
Power Metal: The Race for the Resources That Will Shape the Future
by Vince BeiserThe powerful ways the metals we need to fuel technology and energy are spawning environmental havoc, political upheaval, and rising violence - and how we can do better.An Australian millionaire's plan to mine the ocean floor. Nigerian garbage pickers risking their lives to salvage e-waste. A Bill Gates-backed entrepreneur harnessing AI to find metals in the Arctic.These people and millions more are part of the intensifying competition to find and extract the minerals essential for two crucial technologies: the internet and renewable energy. In Power Metal, Vince Beiser explores the Achilles' heel of "green power" and digital technology - that manufacturing computers, cell phones, electric cars, and other technologies demand skyrocketing amounts of lithium, copper, cobalt, and other materials. Around the world, businesses and governments are scrambling for new places and new ways to get those metals, at enormous cost to people and the planet.Beiser crisscrossed the world to talk to the people involved and report on the damage this race is inflicting, the ways it could get worse, and how we can minimize the damage. Power Metal is a compelling glimpse into this disturbing yet potentially promising new world.
Archie Showcase Digest #21: Archie's Christmas Stocking (World of Archie Digest #21)
by Archie SuperstarsArchie Comics is the Official Comic Book of Christmas, and this special, snowy SHOWCASE DIGEST is here to provide you with all sorts of holiday hjiinks featuring Archie and his friends!
Archie: Archie is Mr. Justice #1 (World of Archie Digest #1)
by Tim SeeleyBRAND-NEW 4-PART ARCHIE PREMIUM EVENT LIMITED SERIES! Young Archie Andrews is your typical teenager, except for the fact that he has superpowers and an undying urge to do what’s right, inspiring his superhero persona, “Mr. Justice.” Guiding Archie on the path of heroism is his best friend Jughead. The pair aim to right the wrongs of the greedy Hiram Lodge, who turned their tranquil hometown of Riverdale into a luxury city, forcing families out, and big businesses in. Can Archie’s brand of justice bring Riverdale into a new prosperous era, or will his need to do good ultimately be his downfall? This is truly a love letter to THE BEST of Archie, for fans of series like Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? and Invincible.
Women Servants of the State 1870–1938: A History of Women in the Civil Service (Routledge Library Editions: Women in Society)
by Hilda MartindaleOriginally published in 1938, Women Servants of the State 1870–1938: A History of Women in the Civil Service tells the story of women as they became an integral part of the Civil Service, work previously reserved for men. As the functions of government widened and the activities of the Civil Service touched the lives of people in more ways, it was felt there were many opportunities for women, particularly in the health and care of women and children. It was recognized that the joint contribution made by the cooperation of men and women together would benefit the service as a whole. Today it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.
Women Attached: The Daily Lives of Women with Young Children (Routledge Library Editions: Women in Society)
by Jacqueline TiversOriginally published in 1985, Women Attached was one of the first empirical studies in geography to deal with the special problems of women with young children. Even within sociology and psychology there were very few studies in this area at the time. Within geography the study of this population sub-group was certainly a new departure. However, it was impossible to make meaningful sense of the structure of daily lives and activities of women without taking in to account the nature and impact of constraints on such activities. Young children being the most clearly visible constraint in women’s lives. Therefore, one aim of the research project was to relate empirical findings to the existing social science literature dealing with constraints on activities. This book was an attempt to redress the balance slightly in favour of women’s activities and specifically focuses on a group of women who had only rarely been the subject of research interest at the time. Today it can read in its historical context.
Women and Symbolic Interaction (Routledge Library Editions: Women in Society)
by Mary Jo Deegan Michael R. HillSymbolic interaction explains the world of social behavior and the development of the “self” as a function of social learning. As such, it plays an instrumental role in describing the processes that create women’s everyday lives and also, their gender-specific behaviors. Originally published in 1987, the readings collected for this volume were designed to link the sociological study of women to the well-developed and well-known tradition of symbolic interactionists’ research and theory.The volume brings together an outstanding collection of readings on women from a symbolic interactionist perspective. The majority of these carefully selected and classroom-tested readings were published in the 1980s. One early study is included to provide a historical perspective on contemporary works. Topics addressed include childhood socialization, marriage and the home, the marketplace and social class, and adult socialization.Students and professors alike will welcome this collection designed specifically for use in a wide range of sociology and women’s studies courses.This book is a re-issue originally published in 1987. The language used and views portrayed are a reflection of its era and no offence is meant by the Publishers to any reader by this re-publication.
Women's Partnership in the New World (Routledge Library Editions: Women in Society)
by Maude RoydenFirst published in 1941, the original blurb read: “Women have been among the worst sufferers not only in war-time but in every ill-organized time of peace. The vast “slave class” on whose backs the great civilizations of the past have been carried has always included them. What is their true share in the world’s work? What are they going to make of the new world? Can slave labour be replaced by machine labour? Can the machine-age in which the machine has too often mastered the human being be replaced by one in which humanity masters the machine? What will be the scope and character of women’s partnership in the new world? These are some of the questions women have to face and try to answer, and with which Dr. Maude Royden deals brilliantly in this challenging book.” Today it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.This book is a re-issue originally published in 1941. The language used and views portrayed are a reflection of its era and no offence is meant by the Publishers to any reader by this re-publication.
Gender, Sex and the Law (Routledge Library Editions: Women in Society)
by Susan EdwardsOriginally published in 1985 Gender, Sex and the Law explores the way in which the law, at its various levels of jurisdiction, justifies its discrimination against women in terms of the physiological differences between the sexes. The book examines the wider and most pervasive consequences of this as it affects women in their legal status, their rights, obligations and duties and in their confrontation with the law. Whilst it focuses principally on the contemporary implications of this legal perception in the sphere of crime, work and medical practice, there is also discussion of the historical development of these attitudes. The book has appeal across subject boundaries, it sets out what was bothering feminists lawyers and activists in the 1980s, matters still bothering us today.This book is a re-issue originally published in 1985. The language used and views portrayed are a reflection of its era and no offence is meant by the Publishers to any reader by this re-publication.
Rapiers and Battleaxes: The Women's Movement and Its Aftermath (Routledge Library Editions: Women in Society)
by Josephine KammThe long and bitter struggle for the vote is certainly the most spectacular part of the history of women’s emancipation. Originally published in 1966 Rapiers and Battleaxes tells the story in its wider aspect and in terms of the pioneers in the various fields.Just a hundred years previously – in 1866 – the first women’s suffrage committee was formed in London with the object of collecting signatures to petition for the enfranchisement of women which John Stuart Mill, MP for Westminster, had undertaken to present in Parliament. Prominent among the committee members were Barbara Bodichon, who had been active ten years earlier in the agitation for the Married Women’s Property Bill; Emily Davies, pioneer of higher education for women; and Elizabeth Garrett, who was the first woman to obtain a medical training in this country. Among the pioneers also are Mary Wollstonecraft, whose book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman sparked off the women’s movement; the philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts; the social reformers Mary Carpenter, Louisa Twining and Octavia Hill; Emma Paterson and her work for women’s trade unions; Sophia Jex-Blake, who forced an entry for women into the medical profession; and Josephine Butler and her courageous campaign for the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts. In the political field, of course, are Emmeline Pankhurst and her followers; and also Millicent Fawcett, Elizabeth Garrett’s younger sister, the statesmanlike leader of the constitutional suffragists, and Eleanor Rathbone, MP, her successor in the campaign for equal rights.The story is brought up to date with the work of other women in Parliament and the appointment in 1965 of the first woman High Court Judge. And it points to the outstanding problem at the time, which was not so much lack of equal pay – although this still existed, particularly in trade and industry – but of equal opportunity. Subjects still being fought today, this reissue can be read in its historical context.
Political Woman (Routledge Library Editions: Women in Society)
by Melville E. CurrellOriginally published in 1974, Political Woman explains why women had participated so little in the British political elite at the time. To many, the question was familiar and the facts plain. Melville Currell in an objective way analyses and attempts to answer the question, ‘Why so few?’The book begins with a brief survey of women’s political activity before enfranchisement. It continues by tracing the assimilation of women into the various levels of political activism, as ‘the late comers’ to the political scene, and compares them with their immediate predecessors, working class men.The author looks for answers in two areas to the basic question posed in the book. She had conducted empirically based studies of the relatively few women activists, and analysed the more general factors including political and sociological considerations. The women she studied are those who had ever been elected to Parliament, and the aspirants, the ‘volunteers’ i.e. the Prospective Parliamentary Candidates. She looked not only at their background characteristics and career patterns, but at how they perceived the political role of women.In addition, she evaluated factors which may have been regarded as militating, or mediating women’s entry into the political elite, like woman’s changing role in society, her status in the educational and occupational sectors, the political socialization process as it affected women and girls, and the incidence of two factors which may be termed ‘male equivalence’, and ‘the politicized family’. Candidate selection in the parties is also briefly considered.Two chapters place women’s political activism in Britain in a wider framework. In terms of a wider regional context, the comparative political role of women is outlined, an outline which includes material from Western Europe and from the Communist sector. In the search for a wider definition of ‘political’, a chapter is devoted to the rise and relevance of the Women’s Liberation Movement.
Women's Issues in Social Policy (Routledge Library Editions: Women in Society)
by Mavis Maclean Dulcie GrovesDuring the 1980s a notable development in mainstream social policy in the United Kingdom was the emergence of a feminist critique. Originally published in 1991, Women’s Issues in Social Policy was intended as a contribution to the social policy literature which could also be used in a women’s studies context. It demonstrates the impossibility of understanding the welfare state without appreciating how it treats women, especially as dependants within the family, and the conflicts of interest between men and women as well as the unequal power relationships in the welfare context. It also highlights the fact that women’s traditional role in welfare provision is as unpaid carers for children, the elderly and incapacitated people, and is particularly concerned with the everyday experiences and dissatisfactions of women which had largely been ignored within mainstream social policy research and literature at the time.Women’s Issues in Social Policy incorporates recent research findings written from a feminist perspective and reveals the breadth and depth of recent work in previously unexplored areas such as time budgeting and transport, as well as developing analysis in traditional areas of interest such as health and personal care.The editors also looked into the wider European context and included a chapter which examines whether the abortion issue would give birth to feminism in Poland.Women’s Issues in Social Policy will be of value to teachers and students of social policy and women’s studies, as well as of interest to the general reader.
Becoming a Linguist: Advice from Key Thinkers in Language Studies
by Milak, Edited by EldinThis unique collection of essays, edited by and for students of linguistics, offers insights into the personal and professional journeys of some of the key thinkers in language studies.With contributions by fifteen established scholars, the volume provides first-hand insights into the ‘becoming’ of a linguist, and the many joys and challenges which come with it. The contributors pair honest and practical academic advice with personal experiences to assist novice and aspiring linguists to find their footing in the rapidly changing landscape of language studies, and guide them through linguistics past, present, and future. Autobiographical and reflexive, each chapter also includes recommendations for key readings and resources used or produced by the contributors.As a volume focused on the people behind the ideas, Becoming a Linguist will be of interest to students and scholars of language and linguistics, the history of linguistic thought, as well as the interested general reader.
Millimeter Wave Communications in 5G and Towards 6G
by Vasanthan Raghavan Junyi Li Ashwin Sampath Ozge H. Koymen Tao LuoThis book explores different facets of millimeter wave systems, which form a central part of 5G systems. It explains how these systems serve as a foundational building block of 5G-Advanced/6G as these systems evolve.Millimeter Wave Communications in 5G and Towards 6G focuses on millimeter wave channel modeling, radio frequency (RF) and antenna level constraints imposed on beamforming, beamforming design for link level incorporating the RF/antenna constraints and the channel structure, as well as system level deployment considerations. With significant academic and industrial experience, the authors are well-equipped in explaining how the millimeter wave research developed, the fundamental principles/math beneath the technology, and in explaining precisely the “Why?” behind the “What?” that make the 5G-NR specifications. The authors examine point-to-point systems at a single link level and show how the traditional sub-6 GHz-based beamforming procedures simplify to a simplistic signal processing approach of directional beam scanning. This book examines the foundational background that led to specific choices in the millimeter wave part of the 5G-NR spec as well as chart out the roadmap in terms of future research and development activities in this arena. The book ends by providing a scope of future research in this area.This book is geared towards both introductory as well as advanced researchers in both industry and academia working in the areas of 5G, 5G-Advanced and 6G communications. It would also be useful for senior undergraduate and graduate students in universities focusing on wireless communications topics.
Misery Loves Cabernet: A Novel
by Kim GruenenfelderCharlize "Charlie" Edwards finally has it all: a house in Silverlake, L.A.'s hippest neighborhood, two fabulous best friends who always have her back, and a great (though hectic) job as the personal assistant to Hollywood's hottest movie star, Drew Stanton. But best of all, Charlie has a newly feathered love nest with Jordan, the sexy photographer she recently started dating. Maybe Charlie's journal of smart-alecky life advice—which she's always been better at writing than following—has finally helped put her on the right track. Unfortunately for Charlie, Drew is causing complete havoc on his new movie set, her eccentric family is descending upon L.A. for the upcoming holiday season, and her love life may be back to square one. Jordan has left L.A. to work on a film shooting in Paris, where the women are gorgeous, sophisticated, and possibly after her man. And Drew's handsome new producer, Liam, is an old crush who has reappeared to tug at Charlie's heartstrings. Charlie's torn between the misery of waiting for Jordan and the tingly feelings she has for Liam. But there's nothing misery—or seduction—loves better than a great glass of cabernet.
Foodist: Using Real Food and Real Science to Lose Weight Without Dieting
by Darya Pino RoseIn Foodist, Darya Pino Rose, a neuroscientist, food writer, and the creator of SummerTomato.com, delivers a savvy, practical guide to ending the diet cycle and discovering lasting weight-loss through the love of food and the fundamentals of science. A foodist simply has a different way of looking at food, and makes decisions with a clear understanding of how to optimize health and happiness. Foodist is a new approach to healthy eating that focuses on what you like to eat, rather than what you should or shouldn’t eat, while teaching you how to make good decisions, backed up by an understanding of what it means to live a healthy lifestyle.Foodist: Using Real Food and Real Science to Lose Weight Without Dieting is filled with tips on food shopping, food prep, cooking, and how to pick the right restaurants and make smart menu choices.
The Razor
by J. Barton MitchellJ. Barton Mitchell's The Razor is a riveting science fiction thriller about a man struggling to survive the chaos on a prison planet.Brilliant engineer Marcus Flynn has been sentenced to 11-H37 alongside the galaxy’s most dangerous criminals. A hard labor prison planet better known as the Razor, where life expectancy is short and all roads are dead ends.At least until the Lost Prophet goes active…In a few hours, prison guards and staff are evacuated, the prisoners are left to die, and dark mysteries begin to surface.Only Flynn has the skills and knowledge to unravel them, but he will have to rely on the most unlikely of allies--killers, assassins, pirates and smugglers. If they can survive each other they just might survive the Razor…and claim it for their own.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
The Artist of Disappearance: Three Novellas
by Anita DesaiFinalist for the Pen/Faulkner Award for Fiction&“The excellent strength [the novellas] share is a gracefulness and dreamlike sonority, reminiscent of writers like Jhumpa Lahiri and W.G. Sebald, wherein strange evolutions of solitary lives are the rule, and readers are held by the stately, hypnotic dignity of the voice that tells them.&” – San Francisco ChronicleSet in modern India, these three novellas move beyond the cities to places still haunted by the past, and to characters who are, each in their own way, masters of self-effacement. An unnamed government official is called upon to inspect a faded mansion of forgotten treasures where he discovers a surprise "relic." A translator blurs the line between writer and translator, and in so doing risks unraveling her desires and achievements. In the title novella, a hermit hidden away in the woods with a secret is discovered by a film crew, which compels him to withdraw even further until he magically disappears . . . Rich and evocative, remarkable in their clarity and sensuous in their telling, these novellas remind us of the extraordinary yet delicate power of this pre-eminent writer. &“Desai, at her best, offers enchanting, subtle, and deeply observed portraits of layered characters trapped between worlds.&” – Daily Beast&“Lingers in the memory the same way these landscapes and people of India prove impossible to forget.&” – Boston Globe
Nocturne for a Dangerous Man
by Marc MatzGavilan Robie was a man who lived a very private life--under any of a number of names and faces, many of whom had acquaintances and friends--but only a very few people were acquaintances of Gavilan Robie. Robie was a hunter, once a member of the clandestine Action Rescue Commitee, now freelance. And when he's hired by a powerful multi-national corporation to find an employee kidnapped by terrorists, he finds himself in over his head. He will need every trick he's picked up during years of covert ops just to survive.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Great Possessions: An Amish Farmer's Journal
by David KlineGreat Possessions is David Kline's classic memoir celebrating his life as an Amish farmer in Southern Ohio. "Infectiously avid, the author shares his knowledge of mushrooming in spring, chopping firewood in fall, maple-sugaring in late winter, bird-watching all year round, and going on walks across the countryside with his children, ``just . . . seeing things.'' His reverence for nature and his deep religious faith are palpable, and he argues convincingly for the ``small-scale diversified farming'' of the Amish, which ultimately gives back to the earth more than it takes." - Publishers Weekly
The End of My Addiction
by Olivier Ameisen"After years of battling uncontrollable addiction, I have achieved the supposedly impossible: complete freedom from craving."Dr. Olivier Ameisen was a brilliant cardiologist on the staff at one of America's top teaching hospitals and running his own successful practice when he developed a profound addiction to alcohol. He broke bones with no memory of falling; he nearly lost his kidneys; he almost died from massive seizures during acute withdrawal. He gave up his flourishing practice and, fearing for his life, immersed himself in Alcoholics Anonymous, rehab, therapy, and a variety of medications. Nothing worked.So he did the only thing he could: he took his treatment into his own hands. Searching for a cure for his deadly disease, he happened upon baclofen, a muscle relaxant that had been used safely for years as a treatment for various types of muscle spasticity, but had more recently shown promising results in studies with laboratory animals addicted to a wide variety of substances. Dr. Ameisen prescribed himself the drug and experimented with increasingly higher dosages until he finally reached a level high enough to leave him free of any craving for alcohol. That was more than five years ago. Alcoholism claims three hundred lives per day in the United States alone; one in four U.S. deaths is attributable to alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drugs. Baclofen, as prescribed under a doctor's care, could possibly free many addicts from tragic and debilitating illness. But as long as the medical and research establishments continue to ignore a cure for one of the most deadly diseases in the world, we won't be able to understand baclofen's full addiction-treatment potential.The End of My Addiction is both a memoir of Dr. Ameisen's own struggle and a groundbreaking call to action—an urgent plea for research that can rescue millions from the scourge of addiction and spare their loved ones the collateral damage of the disease.